Debating on these two laptops… thoughts/opinions??
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I was at the Apple Store today and gave these a test drive.
The 15" feels way more lighter, it’s a great size when closed, super thin. It’s the better choice if you the majority of your usage is surfing+light productivity work. Battery life is also a winner because it’s not as powerful with just 8 cores. I also love how there is absolutely no fans. Passive heatsink. Will throttle when you really push it.
The 14" definitely felt heaver, thicker. More powerful and I expect it to also not be as a long lasting battery because of the high refresh rate display, more CPU and GPU cores. It’s the better laptop if you are going to be doing more than just surfing+light productivity, and you are doing those tasks more often. Video editing, music production, xCode, I would classify as tasks that definitely take advantage of a MBP features. If those are those types of things one does daily, the weight and thickness and can totally be overlooked as the non pro M2 can struggle, I’ve read anecdotally. MBP also have the better heat dissipation as it has a cooling fan. You want power, you will get it. But also moving parts like a fan will be the first to go on a computer.
The displays are only 1" different. It was like a 50/50, no clear winner.
My personal pick is I chose the 15" simply because of the weight and how thin it is. I have way more powerful computers that I can RDP into. So the MBA serves as the perfect thin client.
15” air is 3.3 lbs, 14” pro is 3.5 lbs. For pure weight they’re very very close.
If both of them are presented in front of you, you lift one up and weight the other, it’s immediate that the MBA is subjectively lighter.
But if one purchased the MBP without having touched the MBA, the weight is actually a non-issue. Its not an everyday occurrence to have access to both that it would make a true difference.
Just like how the display is very very close that it could be negligible, as to your point, the weight could be negligible too.
agreed. This is what people dont get it. They just look at specs and say both are same weight but 15" Air will feel substantially lighter than 14" MBP.
This is because all of the weight of the 14" MBP is at the top sector near the display hinge due to fans and other components. The weight is not evenly spreaded out unlike the 15" or 13" air. People just dont get this stuff without carrying and holding them side by side.
No brainer in any case I feel to pick the pro. $150 over the lifespan of the computer for:
- Much better processor
- Ability for 2 external displays
- Nearly the same weight
- 120hz vs 60 - no going back
- HDMI port, good for travel in hotels if no airplay, or even at home in general
- Additional usb c port
- Keyboard is nice (on both)
For productivity reasons if you ever try 2 actual external displays (like 2 4Ks or 1440s) instead of one, it’s a world of difference. I recently had to return my 2nd external display and have been using my mbp as a 2nd display (16”), and it’s been a rough ride. It helps but nothing like the productivity of 2 actual external displays.
“No brainer” - Why?
- Much better processor - Use case says there would be no difference in real life performance at all
- Ability for 2 external displays - Most non-professionals do not use 2 external monitors. If they will, then yes, this is a good reason
- Nearly the same weight - but not nearly the same size. Air 15 has over an inch larger screen. The 14 is closer in size to the Air 13.6. In person it is a big difference.
- 120hz vs 60 - no going back - Really? on a laptop I didn’t see much difference side by side. Maybe for gaming or sports watching, but 60 is good enough for most uses.
- HDMI port, good for travel in hotels if no airplay, or even at home in general - Agreed but a small adapter fits in any pocket on you case or sleeve. is that worth the extra weight and thickness?
- Additional usb c port - Same as above
- Keyboard is nice (on both) - That is personal preference. On the 14 the keystrokes needed felt longer and the heavier to me. I liked the lighter feeling on the Air.
Depending upon use case and personal preferences, I think the decision could go either way. That is not a “no brainer.” IMHO.
After no brainer I did follow that with how “I feel”. Personal preference trumps all if you know what you want, no problem with that. OP asked tor opinions.
I’ve had a 13in, 15, 17, and now 16. Definitely agree that I’d prefer 15 over 14, but not to lose being able to connect 2 externals over without having to get additional accessories. 2 externals also need more power to run well.
It’s also why I didn’t reply to your original comment because I’m not here trying to convince you that you made a wrong choice with getting the MacBook Air. You sound like you know what you want and what you wanted was the best choice for you, so who am I to advise you.
But while we’re on the topic, it only weights .2 lbs more lol, and nominally thicker
I would go with the Pro, $150 more for much more computer
Pro
Air all the way. Had both here for testing. Air was superior in screen size (significantly!), screen feel (feels better than pro despite 60Hz less!), weight, thinness, general astetics, keyboard feel, touchpad feel and size, keyboard background.
Sorry.
Hahaha that was funny.
It’s subjective. And I mean it.
Pro chips are significantly better in the long run because they have a fan. And that’s ignoring all the benefits u get on the pro for just 150 more
that is factually wrong. Just because you have fan doesnt make a chip better. I will argue other way instead. Fans bring in more dust and dirt inside the chasis of the laptop and is another potential point of failure. But either way this is not how chips work. You need fans if you are running high cpu based workloads like rendering, editing work etc otherwise the pro chip will go to waste.
That’s why u get a pro chip if u need a pro chip. And with how apples m series work is very little dust because the fans rarely go unless u have a strong workload. Compared to other laptops at least. But a fan helps performance (if u use it). But this is why most people can get away even with an m1 air cause most people arnt using it hard enough to need a pro chip
I returned a MacBook Air 13 inch with M2 for the M2 Pro 14 inch and I find that the battery life on the Pro is noticeably worse than on the Air, even when doing normal web browsing. I don’t know if the CPU is just more power hungry or what it is. This is just my personal experience.
Just by the higher screen brightness and the higher refresh rate is going to use more battery in comparison to the air.
I picked the Air after looking at them side by side. I couldn’t tell too much difference in screen quality and the extra inch is very noticeable and usable.
Most of my work is email, PowerPoint, Teams meetings, web apps, and spreadsheets. For me, extra screen real estate is more important than darker blacks.
I also liked the feel of the keyboard (a bit shorter, easier stroke to my feel) when typing. And I travel a good deal for work and it is thinner.
If you need more power for your work stream, I can see the Pro making sense. I thought about it.
But the Air was a better fit for me. I ordered last week.
I just returned my MacBook Pro M3 because I couldn’t stand the typing experience compared to my MBA M2 13”.
Also, I’m so use to the form factor of the air that I’m willing to work around the screen and lack of ports.
I agree. Most folks probably won’t notice a speed difference at all between them, especially those coming to Reddit and asking. For normal everyday tasks and office workflows there isn’t any real difference. Portability is so much better on the Air. It makes a difference. I don’t buy the longevity argument either.
It’s so confusing. I’m just going to use it for web searches, checking email, maybe playing games, nothing high tech. What do you recommend??
What will you be using it for?
I have a 14” M1 Pro that I use for email, the web, and very rarely a little bit of photoshop/lightroom. It’s overall IMO.
Hindsight being 20/20 I think I would have been better off with an Air
what is your workflow like? and what do you do on your laptop?
Personally for me I would spend the extra on the pro just cuz the price difference is not a lot.
Pro is well worth the cost difference. Not even close
That extra 150 gets you a significantly better machine that will last longer. Definitely worth the pro when the only sacrifice is the 1” of screen.
Get a larger HD if ur using it for work. 1T or 2T. You will fill it up quick!
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So I went back and forth on this as well. I bought the air for my wife cause she is a teacher. I posted my own thread and most people had buyers remorse with going with the pro. They would have preferred extra screen relastate. So I ended up getting her the 15" and honestly she is not gaming or video editing so she would never need for than the M2 which is already better than most i5 and i7 window laptops. At the end of the day it depends what you want to use it for. If it is going to be for nothing more than web browsing and school work the air works. If it will be heavy lifting than the pro.